Under Your Wing
by ElesaryAyres
Summary: Iggy and Nudge plan their future, but with him leaving for college and her staying behind, will they even have one?
1. Chapter 1

Nudge

Saturday January 18

1:55 PM

"You look beautiful, Sweetheart." Max said, pressing a kiss to my temple.

I fidgeted with the hemline of my red silk blouse and jeans. "Are you sure?"

Max stood next to me in the full-length mirror, she wore dark wash jeans a vampire weekend t-shirt. Angel sat on my bed, reading an old issue of Seventeen Magazine wearing one of Gazzy's old shirts and an ankle length periwinkle skirt. It really shouldn't have worked, but it did, on her. Ella sat behind her and braided her hair, wearing a spaghetti strapped brown sundress.

"He can't even see you," Angel reminded me absently. "I have no idea why you're so nervous."

"Angel!" Ella admonished, smacking the back of Angels head lightly.

"Just wait till you have a boyfriend." I sniped back, wiping my sweating palms on my jeans.

"I do have a boyfriend." Angel stuck out her tongue. "You don't believe me, but I do."

"You're too young to date." Max said automatically, "All of you."

I snorted. "You started dating Fang when you were Angels age."

"That was soo different."

We all snorted at that. Angel was fourteen now, Ella fifteen, Gazzy sixteen, I was seventeen, Iggy was eighteen and Max and Fang were nineteen.

"Are you ready yet? Iggy's pacing is ruining the carpet down here!" Gazzy cried from downstairs.

"Hold on!" Angel called down as I smoothed one last layer of lip-gloss over my lips. "Alright," I said, as if this was my first date and Iggy and I hadn't been dating for two years.

I grabbed my pea coat and walked downstairs. Fang grunted at me as I came down and Gazzy whistled. Iggy's breathtaking face broke into a smile as he heard my approach and he held out his hand for mine.

I took it and he squeezed my hand. "Are you ready?" he asked quietly.

"Yeah" I said, not bothering to grab the car keys, " lets go."

"Have fun!" Ella called.

Right before the door closed behind us, I thought I heard Angel say, "Oh, they will." But I couldn't be sure.

We held hands as we flew.

I didn't have to ask where we were going; we went ice-skating every week. It was our thing, and I loved it.

They knew us at the rink, and greeted us by name and handing us the ice skates we used every time. "Have fun, kids." He told us.

"Thanks, Rodney," I said with a smile, before leading Iggy over to the benches. "You didn't bring anything explosive this time, did you?" I asked quietly as I pulled on my skates.

Iggy just shrugged. "Give it to me, Iggy." I sighed reaching for his pocket.

He jerked away the moment I touched it. "Its not in there," he mumbled, reaching into his other pocket and retrieving the bundle of wires and explosives. "Here."

"Great!" I said with false enthusiasm, pocketing the explosives and standing up to hide my hurt. What didn't he want me to see? Some other girl's number?

I knew I was being ridiculous, Iggy loved me and I trusted him completely, but he had never hid anything from me. Not even once.

Iggy frowned. "What's wrong, Pretty Girl?" he asked, his pale eyebrows pulling in the way he did when he was confused or hurt. He looked both right at that moment.

"Nothing," I said, standing up on the thin blades strapped to my feet.

Iggy was tall enough that he didn't need to stand up to touch the furrow between my eyes with his gentle fingers. "You're lying to me, Nudge. I don't know why you do that." His voice was as gentle as his fingertips.

I bit my lip. There was no way I could tell him. What would I say? _Hey Iggy? I know this sounds like I'm a crazy ex girlfriend, but you might have kept me out of one pocket and although you've never done anything to make me doubt you, I was just wondering if that was some other girls phone number. Even though you're blind and can't read it. _Yeah, that would really show him how mature I was. "It's nothing really." I said instead.

He still looked troubled, so I pulled him to his feet and we wobbled toward the ice. We were hit with a wall of cold air and Iggy gripped my hand hard in his warm one. My fingers grew warm on one side and cold on the other.

He pulled me closer as we began to skate. "You don't really think it's another girls number, do you Nudge?" he whispered, voice low enough to make me shiver.

I gaped at him, "How could you possibly- never mind, you always know." I grumbled.

He laughed softly, and spun me around the ice. "I know you, Nudge, I knew exactly what you were thinking, and its ridiculous. I should be mad that you thought that, but it's just so laughable I can't even take it seriously enough."

Despite myself, I felt comforted by his words and was content to let my anger go, although I swore to myself I would find out what was in his damn pocket!

After about an hour of skating we stumbled, red and laughing, from the ice and kicked our skates off in favor of our comfy shoes. Then we walked over to the snack bar and ordered two hot chocolates and two large fries. Not for the first time, I thanked God for my fast metabolism, because I loved food, but I didn't _do_ fat.

I noticed a few girls from school picking at salads and whispering about us from behind painted nails. I bit a fry aggressively in their direction and ignored them, deciding I'd deal with them on Monday.

I carefully slipped my hand into his coat pocket as we spoke and my fingers brushed over something that felt like velvet. I gasped as I pulled out a jewelry box. "Iggy…" I breathed, running my fingers over it.

"You pulled it out of my pocket, didn't you?" Iggy's voice was amused with an edge of irritation he rarely used, letting me know he meant business.

Usually this voice made me anxious because it meant he was mad but in this case I was too entranced by the little black box I was turning over in my hands. "Can I open it?" I had to clear my throat to force the words out. My stomach felt light and butterfly-y and nervous.

"You were supposed to wait for me to ask you of my own volition, but if you did that you wouldn't be the girl I love, so Nudge, will you marry me?"

"Yesyesyesyesyesyesyesyes!" I shrieked, throwing myself into his arms and crying. He kissed me, my face wet from my own tears.

"Why are you crying?" Iggy asked, touching my face and frowning.

"Cause I'm happy, you Dolt!" we kissed again, and laughed and I gripped my stomach so the butterflies didn't escape.

"So what's our play?" he asked, "Max is going to think we are too young and Fang will be pissed that we will be married before he and Max will."

"He and Max are getting engaged?"

"No! And not the point."

"I think I should where my ring," I gripped it protectively, "But maybe not tell them, just wait for them to notice."

"I think you're right."

"Are you ready to go?" he asked, scooping up our trash and tossing in the trashcan.

We held hands all the way home.


	2. Chapter 2

Nudge

Thursday, January 15th

5:21 AM

_Quietly, quietly._ I shut the door, wincing at the slight click as the tongue slid into place. I breathed a bit deeper as no one appeared to ask me just what I was doing sneaking out of Iggy's room this early in the morning.

Breathing a sigh of relief, I moved out father into the hallway- and almost shrieked in surprise.

Angel stared at me with wide eyes, dressed in a belly shirt and tight leggings, one arm on her door, cheeks flushed from the cold. I raised an eyebrow; clearly I wasn't the only one engaging in unauthorized nighttime activities.

We stared at each other motionlessly as the clock down the hall loudly clicked off seconds.

But I couldn't remain quiet, hello? Have you met me? "I wont tell if you wont?" I squeaked, glancing anxiously around to make sure no one heard me. While we all like to sleep in like normal teenagers we had been hunted and therefor slept likely. Besides, I usually woke up for school around this time.

"Deal," Angel replied, shifty-eyed.

We continued to stare at each other until I rolled my eyes and slipped into my own room.

I glanced at the clock and swore, it took me forever to get ready for school and I was already running late. If Iggy didn't save me any food I was going to murder him, slowly.

I sighed to myself and turned on the shower as hot as I could stand. I pulled off Iggy's massive shirt and stepped under the hot spray. My wings flexed with pleasure as I rolled my shoulders. I hadn't been flying nearly enough lately, and my wings were feeling it.

I spent too long in the shower- as I usually did. Humming softly as I rubbed shampoo into my tight curls, I imagined what I would do to Iggy if he joined me…

The water suddenly turned to liquid fire and I shrieked and flew out of the tub, fantasy shattered. "Dammit Gazzy!" I hissed, "Every single time!" I really had to talk to Max about fixing the plumbing in this old house; I hated being scalded anytime anyone (Gazzy) decided he couldn't wait five minutes to pee.

Sighing, I turned to my closet and eyed its contents critically; pawing through them to find the outfit I wanted.

I settled on a green plaid shirt and short black skirt with leggings and ankle boots. Smiling in satisfaction, I preened in front of the mirror.

Then I frowned and sniffed, smelling the alluring scents of breakfast, and hearing the clatter of people eating. Without me.

It would be gone in seconds and I was hungry.

I paused in the doorway and wrinkled my nose in disgust.

I was right, the others were demolishing the impressive spread of bacon, eggs and waffles Iggy had put before them. It was quiet, the only noises in the kitchen was the clink of silverware, grunts of appreciation and Gazzy stuffing his mouth with the sandwiches in both of his hands.

I wrinkled my nose and glanced around noticing that the only things left on the serving plates were crumbs. "I swear to God, if you pigs ate all the food-"

"Don' shwear," Max mumbled, stuffing a third piece of bacon in her mouth as Fang looked fondly on. It was the most romantic thing I had ever seen.

Until Iggy magically produced a heaping plate of food and smirked in my direction.

"Yussssssssss!" I hissed, scurrying across the room and flinging myself into his lap, kissing his face repeatedly. "I love you," I informed him, picking up my bagel.

He grinned back and kissed my nose. He never missed, despite his blindness.

"We are funning late," Angel stated, sounding bored. Max immediately stood up and shooed us away from the table.

"Out out!" she called as we grumbled and grabbed our bags and jackets. "School is very important!"

"Yeah right," I muttered low enough that only Iggy could hear me "when she was in school she and Fang never went."

Iggy laughed lightly and gripped my hand as we filed into the forest and took off.

We landed in a small clearing behind the school and tucked our wings away before heading through the doors. We separated once we entered the building, Angel to her freshman seminar and Ella and Gazzy to Economics. I started to hurry toward social studies, but Iggy caught my hand and pulled me back into his arms. He kissed me fiercely, his hands winding through and tugging at my hair hard enough to make me shiver.

"Second floor Janitors closet at lunch." He growled in my ear as he released me, leaving me breathless.

The day slid by in a haze of numbers and letters and years as my stomach tightened and tightened at the thought of Iggy and the closet and the forty minutes we had to lose ourselves in there.

I had ten minutes left of physics and my foot had joined my pencil in tapping the minutes away. As Mr. Fletcher droned on and on about terminal velocities I closed my eyes and tried to focus on something other than the clock.

When I could no longer stand it, I glanced at the wall and sighed. Five minutes. I shifted restlessly.

Mr. Fletcher wrote something about feathers and bricks on the white board, the squeak of the pen hurting my sensitive ears. My eyes pulled themselves to my phone. Three minutes.

Someone behind me farted softly, I wrinkled my nose. Mr. Fletcher grabbed a stack of papers and started handing out our homework. I gratefully began packing up my stuff.

30 seconds. I grabbed a worksheet and sailed out of the doors as the bell finally began to ring.

The halls quickly filled with students chatting loudly and slamming lockers as I glanced around for Iggy. He had special classes in a separate wing of the building, but usually, he was right here waiting for me at lunchtime.

I frowned, and ducked through the throngs of people as I made my way toward his classroom.

A door opened to the right of me and a pale arm grabbed me and jerked me into a closet. Reflexively I spun, leveraging his arm into a painful lock. Just as smoothly, it slid from my hands.

"Don't do that, Iggy!" I hissed, hitting his chest lightly. He smiled at me, the warmth in no way lessoned by his unfocused eyes.

"I'm just glad it was you," he said, hands sliding around my hips. He slowly backed me up until my back hit the wall.

"Hey," I said, winding my fingers into his hair.

"Hey," he breathed, lips meeting mine. I sighed, kissing Iggy was like fireworks, but not in the cliché way. Or maybe exactly in the cliché way, all I knew was that kissing him was exciting and explosive but also achingly familiar and just… right. He just made me whole, filled spaces that I forgot were empty until he touched me.

He walked me back wards until my back met the wall. His hand, which had been cupping the back of my neck slid down my body until he reached the hem of my skirt. He grasped my thigh and lifted it, urging me to straddle him. I did with a moan, eyes rolling back with pleasure and excitement.

"What is going on here?" a deep voice intoned suddenly by my ear. Iggy and I jumped apart, my face suddenly flooding with color.

"Mr. Fletcher!" I gasped, hand on Iggy's arm to keep him from reacting violently. "We- we were just-"

"Out!" he shouted shoeing out of the closet and toward Mrs. Maoless, the principle. Face flaming I gripped Iggy's hand. Max is going to kill us.

Mr. Fletcher fumed as he waited for the secretary to call us in for the meeting with Mr. Maoless. "What are we gonna do?" I hissed at Iggy. The school we attended was one of those incredibly religious private ones that would have driven Max crazy had she been forced to attend, but since she and Fang were out of school and it was the best in the neighborhood, she had agreed with Mrs. Martinez when she insisted.

But this school, well, frowned on physical conduct. School dances were closely monitored, class dress was strictly enforced and most classes had assigned seating to prevent "fraternization". In short, Iggy and I were screwed.

"I can have Gazzy blow up one of the bathrooms," Iggy muttered, "although that was scheduled for next week."

"Do it!" I hissed. But it was too late, Mr. Moaless was already calling us in.

I gripped Iggy's hand harder and harder as Mr. Fletcher explained in graphic detail the extent of our "sin" as my anger grew.

I wasn't ashamed of kissing Iggy, especially because we were getting married. I couldn't believe the words that were coming out of his mouth.

"And I walk into the closet to get cleaning supplies for my classroom and this- this slut is against the wall with her legs around this boy and-"

"Excuse me?" I gasped, "You did not just-"

"SILENCE!" Mr. Fletcher bellowed, lips flapping, "I AM SPEAKING!"

"NO!" I shouted back. "YOU DO NOT GET TO SPEAK TO ME LIKE THAT!" Iggy's lips were white with rage. He stood up and strode purposefully toward Fletcher.

"Enough." Moaless stood up and slammed his palms against his desk. "Mr. Fletcher that is enough you are dismissed."

Fletcher's eyes bugged out and he opened and closed his mouth a few times before turning on his heel and slamming the door behind him as he left.

I pulled Iggy back to the bench and sat back down. Mr. Moaless sighed and sank back into his chair with a creek. He steepled his fingers and stared at us. "First I would like to apologize, Mr. Fletcher has been teaching here for forty years and he is a great teacher, but he is also quite firm in his beliefs and expresses them inappropriately, he had no right to speak to you as he did. However, the two of you knowingly broke the rules of this institution, and policy is very clear in cases like these. Both of you are suspended for the rest of the week and the entirety of the one following. Your parents will be receiving both a call and a written notification. You are dismissed."

We left silently; I was shaking, half in fury and half in fear.

_Max is going to kill us._


End file.
